Tooth Fairy

Claire has worn out her Tooth Fairy lately...she must be broke with all the teeth Claire has lost in such a short amount of time.  She lost SIX teeth in a matter of weeks, for a total of 8...it's been fun trying to get her to say certain phrases--we've all had fun quizzing her!

Not to be out-done...Owen quickly realized that Claire passed him up on the Lost Tooth Tally.  In a matter of less than 24 hours, he had loosened and lost his 7th tooth.  He still has one more to go before he catches up with the girls..and Brendan:-)

Emma has already lost all 8 of her teeth months ago.  She wrote a note to her Tooth Fairy thanking her for all her hard work and letting her know she will miss her for the next 2 years (since she won't see her until she loses molars--Brendan warned her this would happen).  How cute!  Her teeth have already grown in and she has that big-girl smile:-)  This pic was from Dec (in Key West) and you can see them growing in!

Snow fun

We had lots of opportunities for snow fun....we have had a whopping 55 inches of snow this year.  I kid you not!  Here are pics of what we fun we had in it.  I can appreciate them a little more now that it is 60+ degrees out today.  Last week when we had another few inches I was not feeling the love!

Weeeeee!

Perfect Snow Angel...or two:-)

This is on the big "Midway hill"

Snow ball shooter--too soft to shoot unless you let them become ice balls, which I don't recommend!

Go Claire, Go!

 Charlie loved the snow...it was like catnip for cats!

Making snow ice cream--yum, yum!

Blizzard 2011

Blizzard 2011. I didn't buy into the hype. We've all been there when they've predicted lots of snow and we got nothing. St. Louis got pretty much all ice after all. I thought the local weather folks were going to bust with excitement. It was like Christmas for them...even better than tornado season!
? Nearly 20 inches! Seriously!

Thank goodness I did stock up on some staples as we were completely snowed in. Even Darran was forced to stay home from work and even close the drugstore.  Columbia was pretty much completely shut down except for emergencies.

Here are some pics of the fun...

During the storm...

After the storm...

Thank goodness for neighbors with big tractors!

Igloo fun!

Yikes

Wow!  Has it really been 3 months since I've updated?  I should be fired from blogging:-)  Well, we have been super busy (when are we not?)!  I've debated doing catch up posts but it seems overwhelming and then I just put it off and get even more behind!  So, I'm going to post a few short blurbs and mostly pictures to summarize the last few months....that's what you really want to see anyway, isn't it?

Another year....

Another year has passed and the Alberty four are growing by leaps and bounds!  I look at them and think "Man, look at those big kids!  When did THAT happen?"  They are becoming awesome little people though and we couldn't be more proud of them!

We continued our New Year's Day tradition of measuring the kids on the wall.  We are getting quite a few marks on the wall!  Here is how everyone measured up this year:

Brendan- 55 3/4 inches. + 2 1/4 inches

Emma- 48 1/2 inches. + 2 1/2 inches

Owen- 48 5/16 inches + 3 1/16 inches

Claire- 45 1/2 inches + 2 1/2 inches

Owen is our overall winner this year!  You can tell it too!  He is "giant!" :-)  He is closing in on Emma a bit.  It seems that every year she is taller than he is but the gap is smaller this time!  The triplets still are behind where Brendan was at this age.  Claire closed the gap on Owen but she still hasn't caught Emma's height from last year!  Until next year....

Our White Christmas

Christmas away from home

This was our first year spending Christmas away from home.  LOTS of concern about Santa and whether or not he would find us in Key West.  Surprise!  He sure did!  I arranged with the hotel to get this adorable little tree in our room.  We packed up our stockings and wrote Santa letters to let him know where we would be and he found us:-)  "He really is amazing!"  Thankfully Santa was thinking and didn't give us big presents.  Otherwise we never would have been able to fit it in our luggage!  What a memorable experience!

After present time with the kids, we got to experience Christmas morning church service on the beach at the hotel.  Wow!  Nothing like singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" while our feet are buried in white sand and the sun shines on our faces.  It was very surreal.  We also got to be with lots of family that morning.  Many thanks to Pastor Dar for making this an extra special Christmas!  

Next we headed over to our favorite spot on Key West, Fort Zachary Taylor park (the best beach in the Keys!).  It was THE most gorgeous day of our trip.  Sunny and 74.  We packed a picnic and the cousins and decided to spend the entire afternoon at the beach.  Darran read, the kids played, I took pictures.  It was a really relaxing Christmas day.

Owen, Emma, Sasha, Brendan and Claire on the lookout point.  

We walked a bit to this spot and could see water surrounding us on three sides.  Gorgeous view!

Brendan, Emma, Sasha, Brendan, Claire and Shelby waiting for the sunset.

Worth the wait!

We had decided this was the perfect spot to see the sunset.  Sunsets are big in Key West.  Literally.  And what better day than Christmas day?  The pictures don't do it justice, but you could see the sun just drop off the edge of the earth.  So. Cool.  

Here are more pics of the day.  Its hard to pick favorites, so I had to upload them all!

A Key West Wedding

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Jett!  

We celebrated Christmas in Key West (more on that later) thanks to cousin Dayna and her fiance Adam.  Dayna and Adam decided to hold a destination wedding on December 26th and we were excited to be a part of it!  I was a bridesmaid, the girls flower girls, and the boys ring bearers.  The setting was gorgeous and, although it was a bit chilly and windy on the day of the wedding, the wedding itself couldn't have been better!

The girls got to wear their bright orange tutus, which looked great on the beach with all the natural colors.  The boys got to carry the REAL rings on their little pillows and felt very important!  I was able to keep from pulling a Marilyn Monroe with my dress, which I'm sure made everyone happy!  And Darran took some great pictures.

The kids are getting pretty good at this whole wedding thing and it was obvious this wasn't their first "song and dance."  They were seasoned pros and even when being pelted with sand, stood their ground and performed beautifully!  :-)

There were 36 friends and family that made the trek to Key West.  What a neat, memorable Christmas!  Welcome to the family Adam!

The happy couple

What a good looking group!

Dayna and the kids